Spectral Ghostbusters
Diamond Select - SDCC/Gamestop Exclusive
In what very well may be the last Ghostbusters figures from Diamond Select Toys (Hasbro now has the license), we get a nice box set with a bunch of repainted/retooled figures. The latter is not an entirely bad thing, as the Spectral Ghostbusters are from one of the most memorable episodes of the Real Ghostbusters series (linking directly to the movie, explaining the uniform changes and Slimer's inclusion in the group). And Diamond went the extra mile in molding their parts in translucent green plastic.
They look pretty slick in more ways than one. Not only are they hauntingly see-through, but they have glow-in-the-dark "vapor" lines running here and there to make them really pop. There is also Stay Puft Marshmallow Man residue painted here and there on the jumpsuits (seriously, watch the episode). I'm not sure it should be on the packs (Peter wasn't supposed to incinerate those), but I'll allow it. Each Buster comes with a trap and green proton stream.
Speaking of marshmallow residue, you also get a repainted Stay Puft figure with a new, angry face. I was not happy with this inclusion, considering I already had beef with the first release. (Who needs another diminutive Stay Puft?) They should have just thrown the angry head in as an interchangeable bonus and shaved $10 or so off the complete price. At least the terror dog is nice and RGB appropriate. One pops up briefly here and there, specifically in one of the intros, though the blue coloration is not explained. I guess the translucent nature of the figure may not be accurate, but it beats a straight up repaint. He comes with the same alternate set of horns as the first release. Great...how am I going to get another blue terror dog to display those?!
The set comes in a great big, window display box with some animated series artwork. It went in the trash, but it was worth noting that it made a nice presentation. Is it worth $120? Only for completists, and I would have been more happy with a set of the 4 GBs for $80. It was first available at San Diego Comic Con, but immediately showed up at Gamestop. If you're on the fence about it, I imagine this will hit clearance sooner or later.
As I mentioned before, this may be a fond farewell to Diamond Select. Even with some quality control issues here and there, they blew Mattel out of the water with character selection and the massive dioramas. Hasbro may be able to top them with scanned likenesses, but I doubt we'll ever see anything like that temple diorama again. I wish DST had a wave of two more to offer some RGB baddies (Boogieman, please) and some missing ghosts from the movies (Scoleri Brothers), but all in all, I enjoyed what they brought to the table.
Please enjoy these past DST Ghostbusters reviews:
Citizen Ghost figures! The look amazing. And, yeah, it's a fantastic episode!
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